Heartbeat
by dreamtheiu
Summary: Eh? No, things have changed already. You changed, I changed. It's all in the past. But why...make my heart beat this way? // Matthew's POV / Matthew x Francis / Rating may change //
1. Prologue: Under the Storm

_Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump…_

_..  
_

**Blur.**

Everything I saw…was surrounded by a hazy blur. I slowly dug my fingers into the dark damp earth as the splashes of each raindrop prickled upon my shivering body. The colors of my bright red sweater and tan shorts were tainted in a dull grayish-brown mud.

Neutral. Colorless.

I felt soaked in absolute filth and trembled from the frost-chilled sensations that overtook my warmth.

..

_Badumpbadumpbadumpbadump…_

_..  
_

The heavy autumn fog danced along with the continuous shower of rainfall. I dazed at a shadow forming from a distance, still unclear, and slowly tried to call its attention.

_Please… Help me, _I whispered. _I can't see._

_..  
_

_Badumpdumpthumpthump…_

_..  
_

Dizziness took over my mind. I was slowly fading away into unconsciousness with a shortness of breath. I used what remained of my energy to raise my bruised arm towards the approaching figure.

_M-Maple…_

Before darkness swallowed my vision entirely, I bit my lip, seeing…

…blonde. Long blond hair.

..

_Thump…thump thump…thump._

_..  
_

As I drifted off into an unknown part of my consciousness, I recalled a fragment of my childhood: a lost memory…

…the first time I found family.

..

_Thump….thump….thump._

_.._

_.  
_

* * *

_Disclaimer: _Matthew (Canada) and Francis (France) do not belong to me and belong to the anime/webcomic Axis Powers: Hetalia. Just so you know.

_Author's Note:_ I apologize for the short introduction. I'm new to writing fanfictions; it's, well, a first for me. I've been trained to write, but I still need improving. A whole lot of improving._  
_

Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoy reading, and please review. Please don't flame if you don't want/like this pairing. There's always a back button waiting for you.

_~ dreamtheiu_


	2. One: Beneath the Roses

_Thump thump thump…_

…

I felt a cool breeze lightly touch my cheeks and woke up startled to see the clear blue sky and vast green plains rather than the dreary fog that shrouded the heavy downpour and muddy road. For a moment, I panicked in how I ended up there (or where did I go exactly? I mean, what would you do if you suddenly woke up in the middle of nowhere? I was thinking of the possibility that I was 'sleepwalking' or 'someone threw me here'.)

I walked around, hoping to see any signs of life. After a few minutes, I stopped.

I knew something felt _strange_. But I didn't expect to see...a short wavy golden-haired (with a long stray strand of hair sticking out) boy, with what looked to be a small fluffy polar bear, playing in a small bed of crimson roses – or in short, I didn't expect to see, well, _me_.

Eh? This was unexpected. Who would have guessed that I was thinking of asking '_Who?_' to my own self? Hah, my imagination had to be playing tricks on me. He can't be me. It's not possible to have my child self alive unless…

I tried to greet him, but my mouth didn't follow me. No, more like it was speaking by itself, and when I heard myself speak (which felt really strange), I felt my brain freeze.

"Are you lost?"

_Huh? That voice…isn't that…? _I didn't know whether I was going insane or I just spoke in another voice – a very familiar voice. Wherever I was, I realized that I wasn't Matthew Williams. Not one bit. And my little self, who looked at me with large bluish-purple orbs, was.

"N-nuh. I w-wive hewe." He held his snow-colored companion tightly within his small arms as he spoke in a babyish manner. I saw that he was afraid…or nervously trying to reply. His bear, however, tilted its head and stared at me with interest. Either way, I was a stranger to them…me…

I mentally shook my head as I (or rather, my body) bent down towards him, smiling. _W-what are you going to do to him…I mean, me,_ I told myself. _H-hey—!!_

I tried to stop myself, but I continued to take little me into my arms. I heard his little heart beating rapidly and loudly…

_THUMP THUMP THUMP…_

…hold on, why is it a bit _too_ loud? That's weird.

Tiny tear droplets formed from his eyes and a shade of pink covered his cheeks. I sighed and hushed him softly. (Finally, something my body and I agree with!) He covered his teary face with little Kumakiro, (…that is my pet's name, right?) who stared and blinked at my face.

"What's your name?" I whispered. His bright plum-like eyes peeked behind the white fur he was hiding onto.

"Matt-chew." He chirped. I gave out a hearty laugh (which surprised me, since I had no idea what I was doing now) and patted his messy locks of hair.

"You're so cute, _mon ami_. Would you like to have your own papa?" Wait…_papa_? So that means…

"Pa-pa?" He slowly questioned the new word. I, on the other hand, recalled it as a lost word from my vocabulary. All my thoughts disappeared and I asked myself, '_Are you telling me that I'm…?_'

"Yes. I, your Papa Francis, will take care of you as my own son." _F-Franc—_

I felt my eyes covered by the same darkness that took me away from the storm. The heartbeat I heard from my little self drummed as my own. My head throbbed in pain, my body ached all over and the dizziness spell returned, but I heard whispers, not from me, but from somewhere afar.

'_Mattheiu~. Oh, Mattheiu~.' _

I heard someone call my name, singing it like a lullaby. And then…

'_Oi, Mattheiu.'_

Light flashed before me and suddenly…

It became another dream.

…

_Thump-thump-thump-thump…_

…

The first thing I woke up to was to the sweet scent of what I probably think were roses. I carefully opened one of my eyelids and groggily replied to whoever was calling me. _Ughh, too bright, _I complained. _Someone turn off the lights. Hrnn…_

_Huh? Wait a minute…who's lying next to—?_

I turned to my right and found myself next to a certain blond Frenchman, who (I think) was watching me sleep. He laid right next to me with his left arm, supporting his head like it was 'normal' to see me on bed._ M-maple, I need to get out of here, _I groaned. _Who knows what he was thinking while I was unprotected… unconscious…_

It's not that I have any ill feelings for him, (no, wait…maybe a little…) but being with a pervert…in a bed…should be avoided at ANY cost. (That's what I'm told anyway.)

Yes, I know. I should respect him because he was my…my…_eh_..."guardian", but times have changed. He changed.

I changed.

…

Because it was already creepy enough to find someone waiting for me to wake up, I attempted to get myself out and ended up falling off, face first. Now I'm sure I was swearing under my breath while I confirmed that I wasn't dreaming anymore.

_At least I'm myself again. _I sighed in relief and then gently rolled to the right. (Kissing the cold, dirty floor was disgusting, and my position wasn't, well, comfortable. Not in the slightest.) I rubbed the blurriness from my eyes and saw Francis jump out of the bed and look back with guilt…or delight? (I couldn't tell. My glasses weren't with me.)

"_Je suis desole_. I didn't mean to wake you." T_hen why were you calling my name? Wait; were you the one who called me?_

"T-that's okay. Err, where am I?" I asked. It took me a minute to look at myself and find out that I was…nearly naked. I still had my red boxers through, which I thanked for so badly. _OH MAPLE, WAS I ABOUT TO BE MOLESTED?_

"Ah, in my home. Don't worry about your clothes; a maid has taken care of that." He must have seen my reaction to my barely-clothed state. I felt my cheeks burn up…but I wasn't sure if it was because I was about to be embarrassed or feel pretty pissed about what was happening. I just wanted to get out of this place!

"Don't move too much. Your injuries haven't been healed…entirely." _Damn, he saw…?_ I checked myself once again to see white cloth bandages wrapped around my left arm and leg. Now Matt, yell at him for making you fall over (even through he knew you were aching enough) or be grateful that he somehow saved you? Maybe—

"If you didn't know, it's been 2 days since I've found you." –maybe I should be surprised first.

"Eh?! Two days?" I couldn't believe it either. For two days, I was in bed, dreaming about a childhood that seemed to only take an hour or so to go through. Was it…that bad?

"Breakfast is coming soon. Just…rest in bed." He approached and helped me get back to bed. "Here." Francis returned my glasses with a smile. I didn't really need them at the moment but I was glad to see more detail into where I was. (I tried muttering a 'thank you', but he left all the sudden.)

Upon returning my real eyesight (as pathetic as it sounds), I first glanced at my bed: smooth white linen, shades of vanilla-white and chocolate-brown on the pillows and blanket. It was…elegant and comfortable, unlike my bed back home. The walls were surrounded in a light ivory color with visible swirl patterns, two wide windows were occupying the left walls, the floor was covered (and varnished) completely in dark-colored wood, and on my left stood a thin wooden bedside table with a glass vase holding four pink roses. By then, I remembered where I first met the sweet scent. _In the same memory I had before. Back then…_

…

_Thump-ba-thump-thump-thump…_

…

_I was only a child. I didn't know where I was, or who my parents were. I only knew that I woke up knowing my name and befriending a polar bear, who became my best – and only – friend. I didn't question because there was no one to ask. (It helped build my meekness towards others.) I wanted to find anyone, but I was too shy to search. I wasn't taught how to; I was only a little child in a big world._

_I remember the first time I met people, but they easily ignored me. They were looking for me, but I was too small and silent to tell anything. They left. I thought it was the last time I would see anyone. I hugged Kumashiro tight and walked wherever I felt like going, hoping to find something or at least, someone._

_One day, I saw a garden full of roses and ran over to them. They were absolutely beautiful. Kumatsuiro and I played with them, enjoying the sight of something new instead of the usual grass and the sky. That was why I loved the color red, and that was also where Francis found me._

_Francis did tell me that he was going to be my new father and actually treated me like a son. Because of his influence, some people called me Francis Jr. I wanted to tell them that I wasn't related to this man…but it made me happy that I was known and I finally had a father figure; someone to call 'papa' to._

_Things changed when Arthur, my other guardian, took me away. I didn't know why, but it affected me in a way I couldn't describe. When I last saw Francis, with an expression full of sadness and defeat, I felt like I wanted to let go of Arthur's hand and run away._

_But I remembered what Francis told me before I left. "Don't worry, little one. Someday you'll see me again. Grow up to be a strong and better person."_

…_it made me wonder if he was still the same 'papa' I met years ago. I wasn't sure._

_By then I met my real blood-related brother, Alfred. As years passed, I did my best to become the "strong and better person" my 'papa' wanted me to be and became independent. Well at least I didn't do what my brother did to gain independence._

_After a few more years, I was old enough to join conferences and was reunited with my so-called 'papa'. Yeah, he didn't recognize me. At all. Until I told him who I was, which he replied with an 'Oh?'_

_Right, this is the same guy who told me all those encouraging things as a child. Everyone always confuses me as somebody else…or as Alfred._

_I wonder when you'll come back, Alfred. I'm trying to run away from—_

'Knock knock.'

"Breakfast is here."

* * *

_Disclaimer: _The characters here (and mentioned) are only used as fictional characters in a fan fiction. They belong to Axis Powers: Hetalia.

_Author's Note: _Phew. I should have known that I needed to find a way to fit this into my schedule. If only I had the time, then maybe I could type in more.

Doing half of this was a nice stress-reliever. Heh.

I'm sorry if the history isn't accurate or what-not. I tried my best to research about it.

Thanks for reading. Please review if you like.

_~ dreamtheiu_


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